a view from 5280ft

July 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am . Posted in guest post .

Hello loyal ohsolovely readers, I’m Matt from A View From 5280ft. I’m here to fill some space while Jamie is doing her thing at BlogHer as you all probably know by now.

I feel privileged that I was even asked to post here. Although, those who know me know that I am sometimes a foul mouthed, drunken, self centered jerk. So I might not fit in with the mantra here but here is my attempt at a softer post.

I wasn’t always a jerk. I was a nice kid. A kid who had big dreams…not about being rich, but dreams of being heavyweight champion of the world.

My favorite movie as a kid was Rocky. The very first Rocky Balboa, before Mr. T, the Russian and Tommy Gunn.  My dad bought me the VHS and I would watch it every single day. It was a brilliant movie. A story about a no one who, by way of his nickname got a chance to fight the one and only, Apollo Creed.

What I love about the movie is that it wasn’t a fairy tale. Rocky lived in a dump, smoked cigarettes, could hardly read and lost his one shot at the heavyweight title. Realistic.

I loved the movie so much, I used to throw punches when Rocky threw punches, go down when Rocky went down and I would even tell corny jokes all the time. My dad also bought me a pair of Sugar Ray Leonard gloves and a mouthpiece so that when I watched my hero, I could pretend I was truly him.

In some ways, I will always look up to Rocky and there will always be a part of me who feels like I am the heavyweight champ.

Don’t I look like a fucking champ to you?

14 Comments ( Reply )

  1. verybadcat
    Jul 18, 2008 @ 12:32 pm

    Aww, what a cute photo! Looks like a winner to me.

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  2. Erica
    Jul 18, 2008 @ 12:59 pm

    You’re quite the lightweight in that photo, but you’re definitely a champ! Now I’m going to check out the view from 5280 feet :)

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  3. hillary
    Jul 18, 2008 @ 1:46 pm

    such a champ

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  4. e.
    Jul 18, 2008 @ 8:33 pm

    this reminded me of my brother. he had similar aspirations and I think I’ve seen Rocky at least 10 times…

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  5. Jenn
    Jul 18, 2008 @ 10:23 pm

    I have Eye of the Tiger stuck in my head thanks.

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  6. Dan Mega
    Jul 19, 2008 @ 7:21 am

    ^last commenter stole my idea.

    Additional generic Rocky reference.

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  7. Jenn
    Jul 19, 2008 @ 9:03 am

    Thems fighting words Mr. Dan Mega.

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  8. AuburnKat
    Jul 19, 2008 @ 11:44 am

    Yes, you do look like a champ! So cute!

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  9. Princess Pointful
    Jul 19, 2008 @ 1:14 pm

    I’d say you are a champ just by virtue of how hard you are rocking those gloves.

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  10. Crissy
    Jul 20, 2008 @ 6:17 pm

    I used to like to pretend I was Madonna, but my mother kept making me put my pants back on.

    She wasn’t cool like your dad.

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  11. Heather Rose
    Jul 21, 2008 @ 4:15 pm

    I’d say that’s a softer side. ^__^

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  12. Doniree
    Nov 27, 2009 @ 12:17 am

    Don’t ask me how I found this. BUT OMG am I glad I did.

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